Museums, galleries and pools could shut
MUSEUMS, art galleries, day centres and swimming pools could be shut as Manchester town hall looks to focus all its resources on ensuring vulnerable people are protected during the coronavirus outbreak.
The council has set up a ‘control room’ to oversee social care and ensure it knows how many care workers are available and where they are in the city, as it works round the clock to plan for the pandemic’s peak.
Council leader Sir Richard Leese said ‘a lot of things will simply stop happening’ for a period as bosses redeploy their workforce to protecting the most vulnerable people.
The M.E.N. understands that could include the temporary closure of a range of ‘non-essential’ services, with recycling collections potentially disrupted as contractor Biffa is asked to prioritised clinical and general waste. However, libraries will be prioritised so that people who don’t have access to the internet can still get online.
Chief executive Joanne Roney told the M.E.N. the biggest priority for the town hall is public health, focusing on the most vulnerable, and planning in the long term for a pandemic that may continue for months.
“This is going to be one of the most testing times for the city and for the council. Even though we have all of the strengths - that Manchester spirit comes to the fore - for me it’s the long-term nature of the context we are in which will test us in a way we’ve not been tested before,” she said.
No decisions have yet been taken to close services, but libraries are likely to be prioritised over museums and art galleries, which are run by the same department.
Leisure centres could eventually close in the future, particularly if their usage falls.
Government guidance is currently to keep day centres open for the elderly, but the council could close those if they become a public health risk or if staff are needed elsewhere.
At the moment only homeless people who are already in hospital are being tested for the virus and in many cases will already have accommodation available to them when they leave, in which they can self-isolate.
However, street homeless people - a large proportion of whom have respiratory problems - suffering symptoms currently have nowhere in which to self-isolate, so the Ministry for Housing and Local Government is being pushed for more official advice by the council.
It is also using its own information and that of other services to identify any older people who may have to self-isolate, but who don’t currently have a carer or family member who can support them. So far it has identified around 200 such people and is drawing up plans to work with charities and food banks to ensure support is available to them.